Oklahoma death row inmate loses clemency bid despite attorney general appeal

Only Republican governor Kevin Stitt stands between Richard Glossip and the death chamber, with lethal injection set for 18 May

Richard Glossip, a death row prisoner in Oklahoma who has insisted he is innocent since he was convicted of murder 25 years ago, has been denied clemency even though the state's Republican attorney general made an unprecedented appeal to spare his life.

The pardon and parole board voted by 2-2 on Wednesday to deny Glossip, 60, clemency in the face of exceptional resistance from Republican politicians in Oklahoma who have joined forces to try and stop his execution going ahead. As things now stand, only the Republican governor Kevin Stitt stands between Glossip and the death chamber, with lethal injection set for 18 May.